'Barack Obama is the Best Thing Israel Has Going for it Right Now'

With such great friends like Barack Obama, who needs enemies? It's one thing to dispute how tenuous relations are with Israel these days, but to come out and claim Obama is the "best thing" for Israel is simply delusional.

All of which raises an interesting, perplexing, and suddenly quite pressing question: How, exactly, did Obama come to be portrayed, and perceived by many American Jews, as the most ardently anti-Israel president since Jimmy Carter?

This meme, of course, has been gathering steam for some time, peddled mainly by right-wing Likudophiles here and in the Holy Land. But last week, it took center stage in the special election in New York’s Ninth Congressional District, maybe the most Jewish district in the nation and one held by Democrats since 1923. When the smoke cleared, the Republican had won—and Matt Drudge was up with a headline blaring REVENGE OF THE JEWS.

Obama’s people deny up and down that the loss of a seat last occupied by Anthony Weiner portends, well, pretty much anything for 2012. But the truth is that they are worried, and worried they should be, for the signs of Obama’s slippage among Jewish voters are unmistakable. Last week, a new Gallup poll found that his approval rating in that cohort had fallen to 55 percent—a whopping 28-point drop since his inauguration. And among the high-dollar Jewish donors who were essential to fueling the great Obama money machine last time around, stories of dismay and disaffection are legion. “There’s no question,” says one of the president’s most prolific fund-raisers. “We have a big-time Jewish problem.”

I guess these Jews just don't appreciate the wonderfulness that is Obama.

Terrorists Strike in Israel

Carl in Jerusalem has up to the minute details on yet another atrocity in Israel.

I suspect our "partners in peace" from the so-called state of "Palestine" have something to do with this. Just a hunch. Must be some activists or something.

Saboteurs Sabotaged

Savor the irony. A group of radical anti-Israel saboteurs discover their ship has been sabotaged. Allegedly. It's really quite a shame this happened while it was in port rather than out at sea.

The ship scheduled to carry the Swedish activists in the Ship to Gaza aid flotilla at the end of the week has been sabotaged in its berth in Greece, the organisation reported on Monday.

The group has reported that the ship Juliano has been sabotaged while berthed in Piraeus harbour, in Greece.

“It is time for the international community to put their foot down and say: It’s enough!” said Swedish spokesperson Mattias Gardell in a statement on Monday.

According to Mikael Löfgren, press coordinator of the organisation, it is not known who was behind the attack in which hostile divers destroyed the propeller housing and severed the two propeller axles beneath the boat.

“We didn’t catch anyone in the act, so we can’t be 100 percent sure, but we have our suspicions,” said Löfgren to The Local.

Obviously it was the Jooooooos.

“It is not so much a question of dealing with the sabotage to our boat. The impending question is really to urge Israel to end the blockade - then our problem would disappear by itself,“ Löfgren told The Local.

If only these losers would disappear.

Meanwhile, check out this cabal of human debris preparing to head to Gaza. Would be a shame if thier ships sank.



The Israelis are wisely prepared for these enemies.

Military elements monitoring the Gaza flotilla said that radical elements taking part in the sail have said they were planning "surprises for the IDF" and plan to kill many soldiers.

The information suggests that radicals are planning to equip some of the vessels with bags containing chemicals, possibly sulfur, which they will use against soldiers who may try to take over the ships.

They just won't learn until they swim with the fishes.

Carl In Jerusalem is quite amused.

Well, Duh: Poll Shows 12% of Israeli Jews Think Obama is Pro-Israel

Frankly I'm surprised the support for Obama is this high. Well, there's a silver lining here for Obama. He's twice as popular with Israelis than he was two years ago.

US President Barack Obama’s attempt to portray himself as pro-Israel in a high-profile speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday did not succeed, according to a Smith Research poll sponsored by The Jerusalem Post.

The speech was intended to correct impressions that he was hostile toward Israel, which may have been reinforced by a landmark address about the Middle East that he delivered at the State Department last Thursday, and by a tense press conference at the White House on Friday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
...
When asked in the poll whether they saw Obama’s administration as more pro-Israel, more pro-Palestinian or neutral, just 12 percent of Israeli Jews surveyed said more pro-Israel, while 40% said more pro-Palestinian, 34% said neutral and 13% did not express an opinion.
...
Respondents who defined themselves at the left end of the political map were more likely than others to deem the Obama administration more pro-Israel – 28% compared to 12%. Among Kadima supporters, 37% said the administration was more pro-Palestinian; 19% said it was more pro-Israel.

The respondents most likely to label the Obama administration as more pro- Palestinian were Orthodox Israelis, at 58%, and right-wing respondents, at 53%. Among Likud supporters, 49% said the administration was more pro-Palestinian; 11% said it was more pro-Israel.

The only Jewish support Obama concerns himself with is with the schmucks writing him campaign checks.

Democrats Flee Obama on Israel; Obama is 'Tilting Toward Hamas'

If you needed further proof the man-child in the White House is completely in over his head, he's now facing a full mutiny from his own party following his disastrous speech last week.

Senate Democrats are expected to support a resolution intended as a rebuff to President Obama’s call for basing Middle East peace talks on the 1967 Israeli-Palestinian borders.

It would be a rare rebuke of the president by the upper chamber and a sign that Democrats are worried about the impact of last week’s speech on the U.S.-Israel relationship and pro-Israel constituents.

Democrats in both chambers are scrambling to fix the damage caused when Obama called for the 1967 borders and land swaps as a basis for peace.

Some Democrats have tried to downplay the rift, but Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress say there’s no denying that Obama made a tactical mistake in handling the relationship.

“I wish that the president had not made the speech on Thursday, particularly not made it — I gather — without much consultation” with Israel, said Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), an Independent who caucuses with Democrats. “So I think it was a tactical mistake.”

There's an understatement.

Further humiliating Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought down the house Tuesday in his speech before Congress, receiving 29 standing ovations in the process.

It speaks volumes how well received Netanyahu has been, contrasted with the amateurish performance and petulant behavior of Obama.

How worried are Democrats?

Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) said Tuesday that Obama is "tilting toward Hamas" – a reference to the Palestinian group the United States and Israel consider a terrorist organization. He emphasized that Congress would never base its approach to Israeli aid on such a position.

"A majority of the Congress disagrees with him,” Andrews said of Obama.

Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), for one, said the president "absolutely … made a mistake" with his 1967-borders proposal, and suggested it would harm — rather than bolster — the chances of renewed peace talks.

"With all of the political turmoil and unrest in the Middle East, I don’t understand why the president injected himself into that issue right now," he said.

Both Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the House Democratic whip, and Senate Majhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have also rejected Obama's proposal in recent days, telling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that preconditions have no place in the negotiations.

"No one should set premature parameters about borders, about building or http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifabout anything else," Reid said Monday night to roaring applause.

While the media gush this morning over a Democrat winning a special election in Western New York, they may want to have a look at the larger picture and realize the guy they helped put in the White House is in dangerously over his head.

He never looked smaller when compared to a giant of a man like Netanyahu. No wonder he has no idea what day it is.

Gene Simmons 2*, Barack Obama 0

Screw John Kerry.

I nominate Gene Simmons for Secretary of State.



Via Newsbusters.

*ICYMI.

Cross-posted.

Former Obama Adviser: Let's Not Let the Fact Liberals Hate Israel Become a Partisan Issue or Something

Now how on earth could the fact Democrats, notably the president, is hostile toward Israel become an issue? Can't always have it both ways, folks.

It would be "absurd" if support for Israel becomes a divisive, partisan issue in the U.S. political arena, one of President Obama's former top advisers said Monday.

Amid signs that Israel could be part of the campaign debate in 2012, retired Gen. James Jones, Obama's former national security adviser, said the United States's support for Israel is too important a security issue for it to fall prey to partisan politics.

"I think that matters of national security and international security, this is one that is major, perhaps the most major," he told reporters at the Herzliya Conference in Israel. "We've had a bipartisan policy that belies the seriousness of this issue in such a way that it if it were to fall prey to partisan politics, it would be absurd."

Jones's comments come as several possible 2012 Republican presidential candidates have taken an increased interest in the Jewish state.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) visited Israel last month and ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) traveled here last week, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is also scheduled to address the Herzliya Conference, traditionally a foreign policy stop for potential presidential candidates, on Wednesday.

Some analysts in Israel have privately expressed concern that Republicans could use support for Israel as a wedge issue on the campaign trail. They cite President Obama's rocky relationship with Netanyahu, which feeds some opponents' view the president is not a friend of Israel.

Democrats have also looked to pierce Republicans' armor, citing Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) proposal to cut U.S. aid to Israel. The idea, however, has not found many supporters in the GOP conference.

Democrats could avoid this by embracing our ally. Instead they do their best to alienate a reliable friend. Anyone with even a casual interest can see the obvious.

Something Else to Blame on the Israelis

If you thought blaming Mossad for the shark attacks off Egyptian waters was dumb, how silly is this?

SONIC booms created by Israeli air force planes breaking the sound barrier have stimulated the sex drive of a group of crocodiles on a local farm.

The males have already begun their mating calls, described by the newspaper as "the sound a vehicle breaking," normally reserved for the crocodiles' spring mating season, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported.

David Golan of the Hamat Gadar crocodile farm in the Golan Heights, believes the reptiles were responding to the sonic booms, wrongly believing they were the calls of rival males encroaching on their territory.

The farm is home to around 100 crocodiles and stands beneath airspace used to train Israeli air force pilots.

Palestinian Activist Celebrates Ramadan, Kills Four Israelis

Maybe he was frustrated by the opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque. After all, our moral superiors have told us such an affront to the delicate sensibilities of Muslims is fueling extremism. It's apparently driven someone crazy enough to go on a murder spree during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The Israeli military says a Palestinian gunman has killed four Israelis in an attack in the West Bank.

The shooting comes just a day ahead of a White House summit relaunching Mideast peace talks.

Police say the gunman opened fire at a vehicle near Hebron — a volatile city that has experienced heavy violence in the past.

There has been no claim of responsibility. But Israeli authorities are concerned that militants might try to sabotage the U.S.-led peace efforts with violence.

Crackpot Chavez: Israel Will Be 'Put In Its Place'

More wisdom like this and Sean Penn's good buddy will be a shoo-in for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez described Israel on Saturday as a genocidal state that acted as an assassin for the United States, predicting the Middle East nation would one day be "put in its place."

The socialist Chavez is a harsh critic of both Israel and the United States and cut relations with Israel after accusing it of "holocaust" for its 2009 offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"It has become the assassin arm of the United States, no one can doubt it. It is a threat to all of us," Chavez said, during a visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Chavez said he supported a peaceful struggle for the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967.

"The territory will one day return to the Syrian hands," Chavez said. "Of course we want it to be peaceful because we don't want more war."

"But one day the genocidal state of Israel will be put into its place, and let's hope that a really democratic state emerges there, with which we can share a path and ideas."

Chavez did not offer further details of what putting Israel "in its place" would entail.

Doesn't seem he's thought it out much. But hey, why worry about details when you have a grander vision.

"Arab civilization and our civilization, the Latin American one, are being summoned in this new century to play the fundamental role of liberating the world, saving the world from the imperialism and capitalist hegemony that threaten the human species," Chavez said. "Syria and Venezuela are at the vanguard of this struggle."

Saudis Onboard; BarryO Ain't

Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites

Hugh Tomlinson
Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran. To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert.

“The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way,” said a US defence source in the area. “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department.”

Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing,” said one.

The four main targets for any raid on Iran would be the uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Qom, the gas storage development at Isfahan and the heavy-water reactor at Arak. Secondary targets include the lightwater reactor at Bushehr, which could produce weapons-grade plutonium when complete.

The targets lie as far as 1,400 miles (2,250km) from Israel; the outer limits of their bombers’ range, even with aerial refuelling. An open corridor across northern Saudi Arabia would significantly shorten the distance. An airstrike would involve multiple waves of bombers, possibly crossing Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Aircraft attacking Bushehr, on the Gulf coast, could swing beneath Kuwait to strike from the southwest.

Passing over Iraq would require at least tacit agreement to the raid from Washington. So far, the Obama Administration has refused to give its approval as it pursues a diplomatic solution to curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Military analysts say Israel has held back only because of this failure to secure consensus from America and Arab states. Military analysts doubt that an airstrike alone would be sufficient to knock out the key nuclear facilities, which are heavily fortified and deep underground or within mountains. However, if the latest sanctions prove ineffective the pressure from the Israelis on Washington to approve military action will intensify. Iran vowed to continue enriching uranium after the UN Security Council imposed its toughest sanctions yet in an effort to halt the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, which Tehran claims is intended for civil energy purposes only. President Ahmadinejad has described the UN resolution as “a used handkerchief, which should be thrown in the dustbin”.

Israeli officials refused to comment yesterday on details for a raid on Iran, which the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has refused to rule out. Questioned on the option of a Saudi flight path for Israeli bombers, Aharaon Zeevi Farkash, who headed military intelligence until 2006 and has been involved in war games simulating a strike on Iran, said: “I know that Saudi Arabia is even more afraid than Israel of an Iranian nuclear capacity.”

In 2007 Israel was reported to have used Turkish air space to attack a suspected nuclear reactor being built by Iran’s main regional ally, Syria. Although Turkey publicly protested against the “violation” of its air space, it is thought to have turned a blind eye in what many saw as a dry run for a strike on Iran’s far more substantial — and better-defended — nuclear sites.

Israeli intelligence experts say that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are at least as worried as themselves and the West about an Iranian nuclear arsenal.Israel has sent missile-class warships and at least one submarine capable of launching a nuclear warhead through the Suez Canal for deployment in the Red Sea within the past year, as both a warning to Iran and in anticipation of a possible strike. Israeli newspapers reported last year that high-ranking officials, including the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have met their Saudi Arabian counterparts to discuss the Iranian issue. It was also reported that Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, met Saudi intelligence officials last year to gain assurances that Riyadh would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets violating Saudi airspace during the bombing run. Both governments have denied the reports.

Helen Thomas was unavailable for comment.

Israelis Kill 'Squad of Terrorists Wearing Diving Suits'

These maniacs just aren't going to quit with their nonsense so just keep putting them on ice.

Israeli forces on Monday shot dead four Palestinian 'commandos' off Gaza as the Jewish state scrambled to cope with mounting fallout over an earlier deadly sea battle.

A week after Israeli naval forces stormed a Gaza-bound aid boat, killing nine people, most of them Turkish, US Vice President Joe Biden said Washington was eyeing "new ways" to deal with Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled enclave.

And Ankara, still furious over the death of eight Turkish nationals in the raid, vowed that normalisation of ties with Israel would be out of the question if the Jewish state refused to accept an international inquiry into the attack.

Palestinian witnesses said they saw Israeli forces firing on a vessel off the coast of central Gaza at 4:00 am (0100 GMT).

Two hours later, four bodies in diving suits were pulled from the water, medical sources and witnesses said, describing the dead as "commandos."

Israel's military said it had attacked "a squad of terrorists wearing diving suits" on their way to launch an attack.

But survivor Abu al-Walid told AFP that while there were seven Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades members on board, there were "no arms in the boat," and that they had been engaged in "swimming training" at the time. Two had escaped and one was still missing, he said.

Sure, nothing like a 4 am swimming lesson.

Elvis Costello: Self-Righteous Douchebag of the Day

Oh, I just don't know where to begin. How about with this: Shut up and sing, Elvis. Nobody gives a rat's ass what you think of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Singer Elvis Costello has pulled out of two gigs in Israel due to concerns over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The musician, who was due to perform later this summer, said: "Having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act."

Costello said his decision was "a matter of instinct and conscience" and "too grave and complex" to be addressed at a concert.

He apologised to ticket holders and event organisers.

The songwriter also said sorry to Israeli journalists who have interviewed him in advance of the concerts.

"They were of great value and help to me in gaining an appreciation of the cultural scene," he said.

In a statement on his website, Costello explained: "I must believe that the audience for the coming concerts would have contained many people who question the policies of their government on settlement and deplore conditions that visit intimidation, humiliation or much worse on Palestinian civilians in the name of national security.

"I am also keenly aware of the sensitivity of these themes in the wake of so many despicable acts of violence perpetrated in the name of liberation."

This great humanitarian has zero concern, apparently, for the Israeli people living under a constant state of siege from the maniacs surrounding them who wish death and annihilation upon them. His concern for their tormentors, it seems, is much more grave.

He said that in the end his conscience and instinct told him that if these themes were "too grave and complex" to be addressed in concert, "then it is also quite impossible to look the other way."

Too grave and complex. Heavy, man.

Obama Stoking Anti-Semitic Hatred

Looks like the shabby treatment of Israel by Barack Obama has consequences. Anti-Semitic creeps are coming out of the woodwork.

The first e-mail comes from a frequent writer, typos and all.

"U try to make 'our' president a pro muslim, when your 'Jewish' nation is the cause of most of our problems. Your PM is nothing more than a terrorist, but u defend him. I told u before, when u were in Israel, stay there." -- Bob De John

The second writer also has grammar and spelling problems and a bellyful of hate. "You and the rest of that jew political group continually licking honey off your nasty tongues, are much more loyal to the country of israel than you are to The United States of America. That is only one reason why most Americans do not like the jew people." -- Joey Dluzak

Here is another voice of darkness. "I so enjoy your rant on Islam and the President. It shows your ignorance and exemplify your dumbfounded fears . . . Cant wait for you to die from old age, maybe cancer, or something worse, like Alzheimer." -- Omar Khalil

The three letters came to me in response to different columns, but the writers share two distinct views. They support President Obama's hard-line policy toward Israel, and they are anti-Semites.

They hear Obama's policy as a license, and even a cue, to spew their hate. I am sharing their rants because letters like theirs are increasing as the president grows more forceful toward Israel.

The connection is disturbing. With American-Israeli relations at a low point, anti-Semitism could be reaching a boiling point.

Yes, some writers support Obama's stance in legitimate ways. They show that there is room for honest disagreement and that criticism of Israel, whether from the president or other Americans, does not have to be anti-Semitic.

But most of the critical reaction I get when I fault Obama's policies is anti-Semitic. Some of it is violent in tone, wishing me and my family death and suggesting the world would be a better place if Hitler had succeeded.

"Another Holocaust is on the way," wrote Janice Wijnen. "What will history say about the Jews? They were the missing links between apes and human beings."

The most common approach is to raise doubts about my loyalty, with many writers claiming that sticking up for Israel is proof of a lack of patriotism here at home.

Because I see Israel's survival both as a moral issue and a strategic one for America, I am often incorrectly assumed to be Jewish, as if only Jews could defend Israel.

Well-known people who are Jewish, such as former Mayor Ed Koch, are routinely charged with caring more about Israel than America. Writer Tom Dilberger repeatedly calls White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel a "Zionist traitor" to America whose job is to make sure Obama does what Israel wants.

Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who seem to delight in humiliating the Israeli prime minister, ought to be careful about what they sow in fertile and dangerous minds. After all, they are, broadly speaking, responsible for their supporters.

Indeed, with Bill Clinton and other Democrats cautioning anti-Washington protesters to be careful not to incite violence, Obama must distance himself from his most virulent supporters.

If he doesn't want their support, he can make it clear by condemning anti-Semitism. Until then, he can fairly be judged by the company he inspires.

Someone needs to alert the Southern Poverty Law Center to all this hatred.

Obama's Partners in Peace Execute Two 'Israeli Spies'

Sure, why stay friends with Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel when we can cast our lot with this lovely crew?

THE Hamas rulers of Gaza have executed two Palestinians convicted of collaborating with Israel despite objections from human rights groups.

The two were executed by a firing squad last night, said Samir Zakut of the Palestinian Al-Misan human rights group.

Police would not allow journalists to enter the Al-Shifa hospital, but medical sources there confirmed the two bodies were delivered during the night.

The Hamas-run government did not immediately confirm the executions, but said last month it would carry them out.

"The death penalty will be implemented for (Israeli) agents who have been sentenced to death, regardless of the position of rights groups that reject these kinds of sentences," Hamas interior minister Fathi Hammad said at the time.

Another Mysterious Israeli Hit?

When it comes to the Israelis, paranoia runs deep. Though I have to tip my cap to them. When they want someone dead they usually get the job done efficiently.

In a possible sequel to the Dubai assassination, Israeli spy planes flew uninvited and unannounced over Budapest the same day a Syrian man was shot to death in his car, Hungarian media reported yesterday.

Two Israeli air force Gulfstream V-type jets, equipped with sophisticated intelligence gear, flew more than 1,300 miles over Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania on Wednesday before flying over eastern Budapest and then disappearing, the reports said.

The incident occurred the same day Budapest police said a 52-year-old Syrian was gunned down while stopping his black luxury car at a traffic light on the east side of the capital.

The attacker fired several shots before stealing a black briefcase from the car and fleeing on foot, authorities said.

Police have yet to identify the victim or give a motive.

The incident follows the Jan. 19 assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai, which United Arab Emirates police blamed on an Israeli hit team. Investigators accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of planning the hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh for more than a year and using dozens of bogus passports or phony identities to enter Dubai.

Hungarian Defense Minister Imre Szekeres yesterday demanded an investigation of Wednesday's overflights, which the ministry said were made without prior notification from Israel.

The MTI news agency said experts believed the planes approached Ferihegy International Airport at a low altitude before veering off. They said there was no attempt to land.

The Israeli Embassy in Budapest said the planes were on a diplomatic mission, but did not elaborate. "Of course, they were not spy planes," said Ambassador Alice Bin-Noun.

The Hungarian Foreign Ministry refused comment when asked about a possible diplomatic motive for the flights.

Over the years, Israeli operatives, including Mossad agents, have been credited with assassinating dozens of targeted Arab terrorists, often in Europe.

Some attacks occurred far from the Mideast, such as in Athens, Paris, Rome, Cannes, Norway and even Uruguay.

Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Rocket Attack on Israel

Someone remind me why Hillary Clinton says the Palestinians are our partners in peace? They have a strange way of showing their commitment to the "peace process" with Al Qaeda firing rockets into Israel from Gaza.

AN al-Qaeda-inspired militant group, the Ansar al Sunna Brigade, claimed responsibility today for firing a rocket from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, killing one man.

"This jihadi attack is an answer to Zionist aggression against the Al Aqsa Mosque and holy sites and our people in Jerusalem," the group said in a statement.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that a rocket slammed into the Netiv Ha'assera kibbutz, a few kilometres from the Gaza border, and killed a foreign worker, adding that it was the third rocket fired at Israel from Gaza since yesterday evening. Local media reports said the man was Thai.

Netanyahu Brother-in-Law Calls Obama an Anti-Semite

The relationship between the U.S. and Israel is deteriorating rather quickly, to say the least. It doesn't help when we're consistently siding with the Paleostinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's brother-in-law Dr. Hagai Ben-Artzi on Wednesday called U.S. President Barack Obama an anti-Semite in an interview with Army Radio.

"It's not that Obama doesn't like Bibi," he referring to Netanyahu using his nickname. "He doesn't like the nation of Israel."

Netanyahu was quick to distance himself from Ben-Artzi's remarks, saying he completely disagrees with his brother-in-law.

Netanyahu said he has a deep appreciation for President Obama's commitment to Israel's security, which he has expressed many times, and also for the deep ties between the two countries.

Ben-Artzi was interviewed on Army Radio to provide background on the prime minister. He told the interview, "Look how symbolic it is that your son took part in and won a Bible quiz, whose theme this year is Jerusalem and its connection to Israel, and you, his father, are being tested and asked to prove the strength of the nation of Israel's ties to Jerusalem."

He went on to say that Obama's anti-Semitism stems from years of indoctrination by controversial preacher Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whom Obama distanced himself from during the election campaign.

"When there is an anti-Semitic president in the United States, it is a test for us and we have to say: We will not concede. We are a nation dating back 4,000 years, and you in a year or two will be long forgotten. Who will remember you? But Jerusalem will dwell on forever."

Ben-Artzi added that Netanyahu is aware of his views, but declined to say what the two discuss in private conversations.

On Tuesday a group of far-right activists announced their plan to hang hundreds of posters across the country depicting Obama under the headline "agent of the PLO." The banner is already on display in the office of National Union MK Michael Ben Ari.

Obama hanging around with anti-Semitic creeps certainly doesn't do anything to dissuade such an image.

Meanwhile, our "partners" in peace rioted yesterday. Or in other words, doing what they normally do.

Mideast turmoil escalated sharply yesterday as hundreds of Palestinians rioted, while relations between the United States and Israel further deteriorated.

The battles between rock-throwing Palestinians and helmeted Israeli police in East Jerusalem were the worst in months and triggered fears of a "third intifada," like the uprisings that terrorized the region in the late 1980s and after 2000.

Palestinian medics said at least 90 people were injured, including several seriously wounded by rubber bullets, in several Arab neighborhoods of the city, which Israelis and Palestinians alike claim as their capital.

"We shall die and Palestine shall live," shouted one youth, hoisting a giant Palestinian flag.

Israeli officials said at least 15 cops were wounded, including one who was shot in the hand, and at least 60 rioters were arrested.

Hamas ignited the rioting by calling for a "day of rage."

But according to Obama and his lackey, Mrs. Clinton, the Israelis are the bad guys here.

Israelis 'Humiliate' Biden

I guess looking out for their own best interests doesn't help the Obama administration. How's that whole smart power thing working out?

srael humiliated visiting Vice President Joe Biden yesterday with a surprise announcement of Jewish settlement plans that pulled the rug out from under a long-awaited US peace push -- and drew a scathing response from the embarrassed veep.

Biden, on a five-day trip to the Mideast, had just wound up praising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for limiting new settlement construction when the government announced it would build 1,600 homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to establish their capital.

Stung by the surprise, Biden later issued a statement blasting "the substance and timing" of the move.

He called it "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now."

The vice president also appeared to retaliate by showing up more than 90 minutes late to a dinner with Netanyahu at the prime minister's residence before issuing the statement.

Biden's trip, the highest-ranking official US visit to Israel in two years, was designed to repair relations with the hawkish Netanyahu and to kick off the peace talks that the Obama administration has been promising since Inauguration Day.

The Israelis apologized somewhat to Biden but promised to move forward with the settlements.

When you have an administration more concerned with apologizing to a terrorist regime for "offending" them I'd say the Israelis know what they're doing.

Target Wipes Israel Off the Map

Obviously the maniacs in Iran vow to wipe Israel off the map, but who knew a major American retail chain has already done so? The folks at Target have some explaining to do, because their mealy-mouthed excuses offered up just aren't cutting it.

It looks as if Iran has found allies in its quest to wipe Israel off the map -- the dopes at your friendly neighborhood Target store.

On sale exclusively at Target is this innocent-looking toy globe. Thousands of these trinkets have already moved out of malls, from Queens to Honolulu, and landed in living rooms and kids' rooms across America.

But folks who forked over a buck for the miniature worlds got less than they bargained for.

These planetary models contain just about all the countries on Earth -- from France to China, Singapore to Spain. But there's one glaring exception:

Israel.

In the spot where Israel should be, this word is printed: "Palestine." Some of those who unwittingly purchased the Israel-free orbs feel as if they've played a role in a modern-day Final Solution.

"They're teaching kids there is no Israel, only Palestine," said Rabbi Gary Moskowitz, who bought a globe at the Queens Center Mall for his 5-year-old daughter. "This encourages terrorism. This foments hatred."

Bob Kunst learned of the globe's omission when a friend's 12-year-old daughter in Florida asked innocently, "Where's Israel?"

"The very people who deny Israel's existence also deny the Holocaust," he said.

After receiving complaints, Target, which sold the globes for several weeks, finally responded. On Sunday, it began yanking the globes from its 1,744 stores in 49 states (Vermont is Target-free), and destroying them. We hope.

"We didn't want to offend any of our guests," said Amy Reilly of Target customer relations, who initially said the omission of Israel was due to lack of space on the item. (Isn't "Palestine" a longer word?)

Homina homina. Uh, Ms. Reilly, these people aren't your guests. They're your customers. Might want to get your story straight before they leave and never return.

Devrian Global Industries of New Jersey, which imported "tens of thousands" of globes from China, apologized. "Obviously, it was a mistake. We obviously offended some people. Now we're pulling them off the shelves," said chief merchandising officer Larry Fine. No estimate on how many were sold.

Larry Fine? Wow, they really are a bunch of stooges at Target.